Dartmouth Opens Ivy League Play in New York

HANOVER, N.H. – Dartmouth men's tennis will open Ivy League play over the weekend, heading to New York to play Columbia on Saturday and Cornell on Sunday, with both matches set to start at 1 p.m.

The Big Green (12-7, 0-0 Ivy League) moved up two spots in this week's ITA National Rankings to sit at No. 40. They have been ranked every week since the start of the season in January, sitting as high as 34th back in early February. Dartmouth just completed a five-match Spring Break trip through Texas, Oklahoma and Tennessee, facing four ranked teams and leaving the warmer weather with a record of 2-3. Dovydas Sakinis is ranked 81st in the country in singles and teams with Roko Glasnovic to form the 72nd-ranked doubles team. The two started playing together in early February and are 5-2 at the No. 1 position.

The Lions (11-5, 1-0 Ivy League) are the highest ranked of the Ancient Eight programs, sitting at No. 28. Columbia has had a good season thus far, defeating eight ranked opponents. It opened conference play a week earlier than Dartmouth, defeating Cornell, 4-1, on the road Saturday.

The Big Red (7-9, 0-1 Ivy League) is ranked 56th in the most recent ITA rankings. While Cornell had a bit of a slow start to 2016 by winning its first match against Buffalo and then dropping the next five straight, it has turned things around by winning four of its last six non-conference matches, but a loss to Columbia kick-started its seven-match Ivy season.

Having not played at home since March 17, Dartmouth will finally return to Boss next weekend, hosting Princeton and Penn on April 9-10.